Health Care Reform
Commentary
The VA is failing America’s heroes — again
“If I’d gone to the VA, I would have died.” That’s what Marine veteran Chinaza Duson told Atlanta NBC affiliate 11 Alive after she nearly died of a heart attack this summer waiting to be seen at her local Veterans Affairs medical center. Sadly, veterans across America utter similar words ...
Blog
Feeble cheer for California’s nurse practitioners
Unsurprisingly, California has historically been among the most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to nurse practitioners’ independence. But starting January 1, 2023, nurse practitioners can finally work toward receiving “full-practice” authorization in California as AB 890 (2020) comes into effect. While the text of the legislation states ...
Commentary
Medicaid Expansion Is Never Cheap
A South Dakota ballot measure expanding the state’s Medicaid program passed with 56% of the vote earlier this month. Expanding Medicaid may sound like a smart way to get more people insurance coverage — especially when the federal government is picking up most of the tab, as it will in this case. ...
Commentary
Bernie Sanders seeks new role to push Medicare for all
Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced his intention to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the next Congress. He’s promised to “focus on universal healthcare.” In other words, the senator’s long-standing quest for “Medicare for All” has new life. We can expect hearings featuring an array of ...
Blog
What do Ticketmaster and Pharmacy Benefit Managers have in common?
Popular American singer and songwriter, Taylor Swift, released her newest album ‘Midnights’ in October. The album quickly became the most-streamed album in 24 hours on Spotify, with 184.6 million streams, according to Guinness World Records. Following the release, the artist sought to work with Ticketmaster, a company who arguably has ...
Commentary
Divided Congress Doesn’t Have to Mean Gridlock Over Healthcare
As a result of the recent midterm elections, and as of this writing, it looks like the 118th Congress, which will be seated Jan. 3, 2023 will be split, with Democrats set to retain a slim majority in the Senate and Republicans taking control of the House by just a ...
Commentary
A New Plan Brings Clarity To Healthcare Price Transparency–Finally
In health policy, there’s nothing quite as opaque as price transparency. Insurance companies and hospitals tend to say there’s no place for it in the healthcare sector, since medicine is more complicated than cars or groceries. Other skeptics say that implementing transparency rules is too hard. Hospitals have largely flouted a two-year-old ...
Drug Prices
NEW STUDY: 340B Providers Reap Big Profits, Should Be Reformed to Ensure At-Risk Patients Receive Affordable Care
SACRAMENTO – The broken 340B program, designed to provide affordable care for at-risk patients, creates massive profits for providers without necessarily improving patient health outcomes and should be reformed, finds a new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. ...
Commentary
Declaring a “Right’ to Healthcare Feel-Good Symbolism Only
Will Oregon’s voters declare a “right” to healthcare? Voters nationwide took to the polls this week not just to select a new Congress but to settle a number of healthcare policy questions, from curbs on medical debt in Arizona to regulations on dialysis providers in California. Oregonians were asked to amend the ...
Commentary
What might the new Congress do on healthcare?
The outcome of this week’s midterm elections is still unclear, but Republicans appear headed for a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Divided government means that legislation must have bipartisan appeal if it’s going to have any hope of advancing. On healthcare, there are a few policy initiatives that could attract ...
The VA is failing America’s heroes — again
“If I’d gone to the VA, I would have died.” That’s what Marine veteran Chinaza Duson told Atlanta NBC affiliate 11 Alive after she nearly died of a heart attack this summer waiting to be seen at her local Veterans Affairs medical center. Sadly, veterans across America utter similar words ...
Feeble cheer for California’s nurse practitioners
Unsurprisingly, California has historically been among the most restrictive states in the nation when it comes to nurse practitioners’ independence. But starting January 1, 2023, nurse practitioners can finally work toward receiving “full-practice” authorization in California as AB 890 (2020) comes into effect. While the text of the legislation states ...
Medicaid Expansion Is Never Cheap
A South Dakota ballot measure expanding the state’s Medicaid program passed with 56% of the vote earlier this month. Expanding Medicaid may sound like a smart way to get more people insurance coverage — especially when the federal government is picking up most of the tab, as it will in this case. ...
Bernie Sanders seeks new role to push Medicare for all
Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced his intention to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the next Congress. He’s promised to “focus on universal healthcare.” In other words, the senator’s long-standing quest for “Medicare for All” has new life. We can expect hearings featuring an array of ...
What do Ticketmaster and Pharmacy Benefit Managers have in common?
Popular American singer and songwriter, Taylor Swift, released her newest album ‘Midnights’ in October. The album quickly became the most-streamed album in 24 hours on Spotify, with 184.6 million streams, according to Guinness World Records. Following the release, the artist sought to work with Ticketmaster, a company who arguably has ...
Divided Congress Doesn’t Have to Mean Gridlock Over Healthcare
As a result of the recent midterm elections, and as of this writing, it looks like the 118th Congress, which will be seated Jan. 3, 2023 will be split, with Democrats set to retain a slim majority in the Senate and Republicans taking control of the House by just a ...
A New Plan Brings Clarity To Healthcare Price Transparency–Finally
In health policy, there’s nothing quite as opaque as price transparency. Insurance companies and hospitals tend to say there’s no place for it in the healthcare sector, since medicine is more complicated than cars or groceries. Other skeptics say that implementing transparency rules is too hard. Hospitals have largely flouted a two-year-old ...
NEW STUDY: 340B Providers Reap Big Profits, Should Be Reformed to Ensure At-Risk Patients Receive Affordable Care
SACRAMENTO – The broken 340B program, designed to provide affordable care for at-risk patients, creates massive profits for providers without necessarily improving patient health outcomes and should be reformed, finds a new issue brief released today by the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute. ...
Declaring a “Right’ to Healthcare Feel-Good Symbolism Only
Will Oregon’s voters declare a “right” to healthcare? Voters nationwide took to the polls this week not just to select a new Congress but to settle a number of healthcare policy questions, from curbs on medical debt in Arizona to regulations on dialysis providers in California. Oregonians were asked to amend the ...
What might the new Congress do on healthcare?
The outcome of this week’s midterm elections is still unclear, but Republicans appear headed for a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Divided government means that legislation must have bipartisan appeal if it’s going to have any hope of advancing. On healthcare, there are a few policy initiatives that could attract ...
